T-Mobile myTouch 4G already getting an OTA update

Have you picked up your fancy new myTouch 4G yet? If so, you might have noticed that T-Mobile is already pushing out an OTA update for it. As posted in our forums, the snapshot above is that of the update which was sent out to a brand new myTouch 4G. We're still digging through what all the update addresses but for now, most folks have noticed that it fixes some of the display issues with the web browser address bar. If you all spot any other changes, be sure to let us know.

Copy it to the root of your SD card (not inside another folder), and make sure it stays named "Blur_Version.3.0.1390.MB300.ATT.en.US.zip." Sometimes Windows likes to add to the file type extension, so double check.

Tap the menu key > Settings > About Phone > System Updates and look for the update. Your Backflip should find it, install it, and reboot.

When you restart (this process may take a while!) you should be running Android 2.1. Our friend also says that you may experience apps force closing, this can be fixed by uninstalling, then reinstalling. Good Luck! Thanks anonymous friends!

Qik for myTouch 4G ties into contacts to show who's available

Now that the myTouch 4G is up for grabs for all, T-Mobile and Qik wasted no time in letting folks know that Qik will be powering the T-Mobile video chat service. Of course, that's not really the news there. The news is that T-Mobile video chat will be the first to actually integrate with the native Android address book. As noted in the press release:

The integrated T-Mobile Video Chat powered by Qik will be the first to offer integration into the native Android™ address book with the benefit of indicating live presence allowing customers to connect with friends and family through live video conversations and video messaging over T-Mobile’s network and Wi-Fi.

Pretty interesting. Not sure it's quite the greatest selling feature but it's a new feature nonetheless and we like new features around here, a lot. You can hit the full press release after the break [via PRNewswire] Thanks, Dieter!

Android Quick App: Cows Don't Fly [video]

HyperBees -- the brains behind titles such as JellyBalls and the Impossible Level Game -- brings us a new game today called Cows Don't Fly. Simple in design, but also providing a decent level of depth, Cows Don't Fly should appeal to anybody that enjoys fun puzzle & skill games.

Throughout Cows Don't Fly's 15 increasingly difficult levels, your goal is to collect all the stars in each world by jumping to and from the circular bongos, all while avoiding obstacles and enemies. To guide yourself around each level, you tilt your phone left or right to rotate around each circular bongo. Once you've positioned yourself correctly, tap the screen to jump from bongo to bongo, or leave your finger on the screen to fly.

Cows Don't Fly also supports Open Feint, so all you achievement-hungry players out there have another game to get started on.

If you've got any comments or questions for HyperBees -- the developer of this title -- sound off in their developer forum.

I tried to explain this game as best I possibly could, but this is one of those titles you'll just have to see in action. So join me after the break as I show you some of what Cows Don't Fly has to offer.

About, Privacy & Terms added to Settings. Go to Home -> Settings -> About to see what version of Twitter for Android you are running.

Quote/Retweet confirmation dialog. The user has the option to either Retweet, Quote, or cancel when tapping on the retweet icon.

Cleaner timeline

Tweet details. Tap a tweet to view its details.

Tweet actions in search results (retweet, favorite, share, reply)

Pull-to-refresh. From the top of a list, pull down and release to refresh the list.

Swipe to reveal. From your timeline, fling a Tweet left or right to reveal actions underneath.

Inline maps. Open a tweet with a geolocation to view a map inline with its content.

Search results now contain top tweets

Page break. If you haven't refreshed in a while, you may see a page break in your timeline. Tap the page break to load tweets.

Like we said, a bunch of stuff. It's still not our favorite Twitter client out there, but it's taking a big step in the right direction. Update now in the Android Market, or hit the links after the break. [Twitter] Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Motorola Droid Pro presale starts Nov. 9, launch day is Nov. 18

Have a hankering for the Motorola Droid Pro on Verizon? It'll be available for presale on Nov. 9. Order between next Tuesday and Nov. 17, and you'll get your Droid Pro before launch day (they'll ship starting Nov. 10 and 11). And launch day, since you're asking, will be Nov. 18.

As for pricing? Eh, we're still waiting on that one, but chances are it'll be around the $199 point, right? We've got a little more detail about the presale after the break.

Western Digital launches 'WD Photos' streaming app

Western Digital, one of the largest hard drive manufactures, has announced the release of its "WD Photos" app for the Android Market. The app, which has been on the iPhone for some time, allows users of WD's "home network" drives to access photos stored on those drives directly from within the app as long as your phone has a connection to the Internet. The app itself requires Android 2.1 or later, but we are sure that won't be a problem for the majority of our readers. This should a a great feature for users who love having their entire photo library at their fingertips, but this app would really be amazing for devices like the Galaxy Tab. Check out the full press release after the break along with usual application links.

Bell Samsung Galaxy Tab priced at $649.95 and shipping Nov. 16?!?

Bell customers waiting for the Galaxy Tab may not have to wait much longer. According to the information posted on The Source website it's expected to ship on Nov. 16 and the pricing has been set at $649.95. If the pricing here is accurate, that puts Bell just a little bit lower than the Rogers outright pricing which has been suggested to be $674.99 but as always, prices are subject to change so don't be surprised if it happens. [MobileSyrup via The Source]

T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Hands-On [Video]

The HTC T-Mobile MyTouch 4G is available today and we hurried on out to pick one up. Our first impressions? The hardware is great - it has a very solid feel, that's 5.6 ounces of solid, and we're big fans of the metal battery door. The plastics, buttons, and 3.8" glass front are all top-notch, though we think the earpiece speaker-grille is perhaps just a little overdesigned. Dieter (that's me!) is also especially happy to not only see a subtle classic Android Chin on the bottom, but also to see that HTC and T-Mobile kept a small, square optical trackpad for easier text-selection.

The 1GHz snapdragon processor drives the very beautiful WVGA touchscreen with no problems, though rendering time on loading web pages didn't quite feel as blazing fast as we expected - though whether we can pin that on the processor or a little bombast in T-Mobile's 4G claims will require a bit more testing.

The skin on top of Android 2.2 is the standard T-Mobile iteration of HTC's sense UI, complete with MyFaves and that Genius button replacing the standard Search button. It launches the Dragon Mobile / Nuance voice search / dictation app for both finding stuff and starting messages. It will take a bit more time before we can tell you how we feel about it, though, because right now the idea of using an Android device without a dedicated search button is causing more cognitive dissonance than we expected.

We'll have a full review soon, but in the meantime check a quick video featuring some details on how T-Mobile has customized the setup process. There are some photos too, because that's how we do.

First up in Facebook's single sign-on: Zynga, Groupon, Loopt, scvngr, Yelp, Flixter, Booyah

Single sign-on is at the heart of today's Facebook announcement, and Zynga Poker is first on board -- and is coming to Android. You can see in the blurry screen shot above that there's a big "Login with Facebook" button. And that's how it'll work. You'll be logged into Facebook on your phone, then just tap that button in other apps. And in addition to Zynga Poker, these apps were announced as early adopters:

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this morning announced that the Android Facebook app is getting a refresh. Places and Groups are coming in the update -- they've currently only been available on the iPhone. Facebook's location API is opening up, and they're making it so businesses can offer deals to Facebook users nearby. Sound a little familiar? (Foursquare says hi.)

There's also single sign-on now, meaning, you'll sign in once and any other app that uses the Facebook APIs will already know you're logged in. Facebook's Erick Tseng (the former Android lead) used this example: You're logged into Facebook, and say you want to log into Groupon. All you have to do is tap the "Sign on with Facebook" button, and you're good to go.

Zuckerberg reiterated that Facebook is not planning on developing its own phone. Repeat: No Android-based Facebok phone.

There are 200 million people using Facebook on mobile products, Zuckerberg said, so "This give us kind of a good base for developers to build social apps on top of."

Latest Google Maps update tastes a tad like Gingerbread

Remember how Google Maps got an update a couple of days ago that brought some changes to search results? Looks like it also got prepped for Gingerbread. What you see above are two phones, both with Android 2.2 Froyo. But the Nexus One on the left has had its build.prop file changed to API Level 9, while the Droid X on the right remains on API Level 8, which is Froyo. OK, so it's just a little UI tweak. But we're expecting a bunch of them with Gingerbread, so this is likely just a drop in the bucket. [via Android Police]

Manually updating the T-Mobile G2

Got a T-Mobile G2 and don;t feel like waiting for the OTA? Don't blame ya one bit, neither do I. Good news is that T-Mobile or HTC doesn't have some sneakiness at play to prevent us from manually updating the G2, just like any other Android phone, and here's how to do it:

Download the update from Google's servers here. Make sure it's named update.zip. Not update.zip.zip, or anything else but update.zip Check Google to see how to view file extensions for your computer operating system if necessary.

Shut off your G2, and power back on while holding volume down. When you see the white screen, choose recovery and hit the power button. When you see the picture of the G2 with the red triangle, hold volume up and power to see your menu.

From the menu, choose Apply sdcard:update.zip, and let it do it's thing.

Portions of this page are modifications based on work created and shared by the Android Open Source Project
and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 2.5 Attribution License. AndroidCentral is an independent site
that is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.